This application for a CTSA planning grant will allow the emergence of a transformative, novel, and integrated academic home for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. The resulting center will have the resources to: (1) recruit, train and advance well-trained, inter-disciplinary investigators and research teams, (2) create an incubator for innovative research and information technologies; and (3) synergize multi-disciplinary clinical and translational research and researchers to catalyze the application of new knowledge and techniques to clinical practice. The UNM HSC has recently consolidated its primary research programs into five "Signature Programs in Biomedical Research" that represent strength in bench to bedside to practice and community and that incorporate the expertise of basic scientists, translational and clinical investigators, educational leaders, and strong mentors. The goal of the Signature Programs to synergize research programs that integrate clinical and translational science across multiple departments, schools, hospitals, and research institutes within the UNM HSC will be realized through the formation of a new Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC). The CTSC will provide needed educational and training opportunities, as well as infrastructure and administration, for clinical investigation that these Signature Programs will utilize to translate their activities into practice. The CTSA will take advantage of existing strengths by incorporating the activities of the CTSC into NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center efforts, the NIH-Roadmap Screening Center, VA strengths, and two NIH-fundedP30 centers at UNM. Community, industry and healthcare partnerships will be strengthened as we foster new and innovative mechanisms of training and research. The UNM CTSC will possess authority over the recruiting, hiring, protected time, expectations, promotion and tenure, and evaluation of its faculty members, who will be culled from all schools within the UNM HSC. The clinical and educational efforts of CTSC faculty will be housed in a common facility with easy access to classroom, laboratory, and administrative support .resources. The ultimate vision of the proposed CTSC is to achieve an effective, interdisciplinary, and vertical integration of all basic science, translational and clinical research and training. Educational degrees and career development programs will target terminal degree recipients in order to provide the tools and training to conduct NIH-funded clinical and translational investigations. The planning award will provide UNM an opportunity to develop a comprehensive clinical research curriculum beginning during pre-doctoral education and extending into the first several years of a faculty member's career. Moreover, clinical research efforts will include Phase I and II translational activities, and will use unique resources such as RiosNet and Project ECHO, to perform community- and practice-based research in rural areas among diverse cultures. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]